Grace Mugabe is immune from prosecution in Hong Kong (repeatedly punched photographer in the face)

The Times (U.K.) ^ | March 22,2009 | Jane Macartney

[Stoat]

(edit)

Hong Kong-based British photographer Richard Jones encountered the 43-year-old wife of Robert Mugabe as she walked down a street near her luxury hotel in the heart of the city to go shopping.

She punched him in the face when he tried to take pictures of her on January 15, leaving Mr Jones with bruises and cuts where her diamond-encrusted ring had smashed into his face.

Mr Jones told AFP: "I think it's a disgrace for the Hong Kong government to allow a person to walk on a street in Hong Kong, punch a member of the media, and walk free from it. This is a town where the freedom of the media is a strong tradition."

He described her at the time as "completely deranged" as she struck him in the face repeatedly while her bodyguard grabbed him as she was leaving the five-star Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel.

He was working for The Sunday Times on a report about Mrs Mugabe’s extravagant holiday in the Far East that was in stark contrast to the lifestyle of the people of Zimbabwe. Nearly half the population is dependent on food aid and a cholera epidemic has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

(edit)

Mr Jones’ lawyer said CCTV footage and statements from independent witnesses had provided strong evidence for their case. Michael Vidler said the acerations inflicted on Mr Jones' face were sufficient to merit a charge of wounding rather than the more minor offence of common assault.

(edit)

[Stoat]

My apologies for the severe editing of this article....this was done in order to remain in compliance with Free Republic posting rules pertaining to articles from the UK Times.  Please click on the main article link to read the full story.

************************************

 

(Sinopix)

Grace Mugabe

Grace, you are not living up to the meaning of your own first name.  Your last name, however, has come to symbolize breathtakingly brutal dictatorial oppression widespread murder and genocide, corruption on an almost unimaginable scale and utterly astonishing heartlessness and hypocrisy so you are embracing the name Mugabe in fine fashion.

*************************************

Related items which may be of interest:

Mrs Mugabe assaults our photographer outside her luxury Hong Kong hotel - Times Online

 

Grasping Grace puts diamond business on her shopping list - Times Online

 

Robert and Grace Mugabe are linked to a series of shady transactions in east Asia

 

Found Robert Mugabe’s secret bolthole in the Far East - Times Online

[Syncro]

Well, it looks like George Soros left someone with a little money when he destroyed Zimbabwe's economy and reaped billions of dollars for himself.

I'm surprised the story didn't read "Reporter repeatedly hits frail little old lady in the fist with his face."

[dr_who]

The civilized world seems intent on making the world safe for thugs everywhere.

[Ann Archy]

I can see this happening to Michele in the future.

[chainsaw]

MSN. I have mixed emotions. Maybe he deserved it.

[chainsaw]

MSM. I have mixed emotions. Maybe he deserved it.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Why did he not punch her back? Sounds like a pansy.

[Stoat]

Why did he not punch her back? Sounds like a pansy.

From the article:

....she struck him in the face repeatedly while her bodyguard grabbed him......

I have no doubt that the Mugabes can afford the biggest, meanest, most brutally efficient and highly-trained bodyguards on the planet.

[Hacksaw]

Why did he not punch her back? Sounds like a pansy.

Her bodyguard was grabbing him. This is what Michelle Obama will be doing in 10 years.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Gotcha. Thanks for the information.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Thanks for the return post telling me what happened.

[UnwashedPeasant]

Her arms are so toned!

And she is a stylish dresser too!

[Stoat]

Her arms are so toned!

Must be the Pilates and her large staff of personal trainers as well as her multiple private gyms in various locations around the world.  :-)

 

And she is a stylish dresser too!

:It's amazing what upscale retailers will provide a person with when that person puts a gun to the store manager's head at first meeting and a sack of unmarked currency in his hands upon saying goodbye  :-)

Her arms are so toned!

Must be the Pilates and her large staff of personal trainers as well as her multiple private gyms in various locations around the world.  :-)

 

And she is a stylish dresser too!

[calex59]

I know this woman is a scum bag who should be in jail for many things, at the same time I can’t feel too sorry for a photog or reporter who gets slammed in the face. Actually, there is no excuse for this type of behavior and just demonstrates who arrogant this woman and her husband are.

[y6162]

Grace Mugabe = Michelle Obama

[StolarStorm]

If he was close enough to her to get punched.... he deserved it.

I personally consider photographing someone without their permission to be assault or at least a gross violation of their privacy.

[Stoat]

at the same time I can’t feel too sorry for a photog or reporter who gets slammed in the face.

I agree that the victim in this case is not one who inspires any particular sympathy or compassion from thoughtful people....there are many 'journalists' whom I would wish a similar fate. 

This sentiment is a direct result of what the 'mainstream journalists' have become....mere shills and cheerleaders for the hard Left who shrilly profess objectivity while being brazenly partisan.  Nobody likes a self-righteous charlatan and most MSM 'journalists' are Exhibit A for that loathsome title.

That being said, part of being any sort of celebrity or politician in the public eye is that along with the various perks comes the necessity of learning how to deal with overly aggressive and trashy pressmen.  Imagine the intense media attention that someone like Raquel Welch has had to endure throughout her entire adult life, yet we never hear of her being anything other than gracious to these vermin because she has class.   (I hesitate invoking Raquel Welch's name in an article about the Mugabes but I think that it's an effective analogy also in the sense that she brings incredible beauty to the world while the Mugabes bring only widespread murder, unimaginable suffering and astonishing corruption)

This article illustrates, among other things, how utterly low-class and evil the Mugabes are in that they are unable and unwilling to deal with an ordinary and basic but unpleasant part of what they have become....their only response is direct personal violence, and it shows how primitive they really are despite their mountains of stolen riches.  They arrogantly assume that they can go anywhere and act in the same way that they do in their lovely Zimbabwe, and sadly this is apparently true at least in Hong Kong.

Some things, however, simply cannot be bought and I'm very glad for that.

[Texas Fossil]

Such arrogance and such evil.

Someday Robert Mugabe will meet a golden beebee, and will come face to face with his creator.

His arrogance will end then. He will learn that he is really not that powerful.

[Texas Fossil]

From Wiki:

“Recent reports indicate that Grace acquired property holdings in Hong Kong, including a diamond business and a bolt-hole at at House Number Three, JC Castle, 18 Shan Tong Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong.

The media speculates that this property acquisition is intended as both a weekend getaway pad for their daughter Bona who is studying at a University in Hong Kong under an assumed name and that she and her husband expect to escape to China should they be ousted from power in Zimbabwe.”

—

China will protect them because Mugabee is also a Communist. And the ChiComs want the Metals that are produced in Zimbawe.

These are truely evil people.

[Stoat]

Agreed on all counts, but it’s just such a terrible thing that he has destroyed, and continues to destroy, the lives of so many millions of people while on this earth. The level of suffering that he and his regime have perpetrated screams for justice in this lifetime, not only in the next.